Synergies: an importand principle of agroecology

Volutio helps companies and public institutions design and implement sustainable, circular strategies that reduce resource use and environmental impacts across value chains.

Three questions for Dea Wehrli, Co-Founder of Volutio:  

Volutio contributed to the development of the ISO 59014 standard for sustainability and traceability: how do you understand the process and what made you successful?  

We see standard development as a collaborative process that brings together stakeholders from around the world. For ISO 59014, people from different sectors and countries worked together to create a standard that can be applied in many contexts. Listening carefully to these stakeholders, combining their different perspectives, and engaging in many discussions made it possible to develop a practical and widely applicable standard.

What has been your most ambitious project so far?

It's difficult to pick just one, because our projects cover many different topics and challenges. On a national level, a particularly ambitious project is the development of new collection and recycling systems, such as for plastic pipes. Internationally, our work on sustainable e-waste management in Ghana, South Africa, and Egypt exposed us to very different cultural, political, technical, and social contexts, making the development, implementation, and knowledge transfer of practical solutions both complex and highly rewarding. In general, designing solutions from scratch that are effective, sustainable, and acceptable to all stakeholders is one of the most ambitious—and exciting—aspects of our work.

You are also involved in monitoring and controlling the Swiss EAG recycling sector. What are the most promising developments there?

The Swiss EAG recycling sector has a well-developed monitoring system and is continuously improving, moving toward a more circular approach. E-waste is one of the most complex waste streams, as it contains both hazardous substances and valuable materials. Recovering all the different materials found in e-waste is very challenging—not only from a technical perspective, but also from an economic one, due to factors such as market demand. Promising developments in this area include new methods and technologies, such as image recognition, digital product passports and the use of AI, which support material traceability and recovery. While many challenges remain, these developments demonstrate progress toward a more efficient, transparent, and circular e-waste recycling system in Switzerland.

We are happy to share the historic house with Volutio and at this moment would like to give a very warm thankyou to the economic promotion agency of the Canton Aargau, especially Ms. Anja Borchart for all the wonderfull connections she made.